The Dead and the Gone

Prayer is a motif woven throughout the entire novel that lends itself to the theme of faith overcoming adversity. Numerous characters rely on prayer throughout the novel, especially the Morales children. On her children’s birthdays, Mami used to go to St. Margaret’s Church to pray for them, and her children continue this tradition in her absence. Further, when the Morales children find themselves in a particularly difficult situation—for example, before the arduous journey to the Port Authority to catch the convoy—they pray. Even when trapped in an elevator and facing death, Bri holds onto her rosary beads and prays until death finally takes her.

Sometimes characters use prayer as a distraction or say a prayer without feeling because circumstances are so dire. For example, when Alex sees the list of the dead on the bulletin board outside St. Margaret’s, he “trie[s] to pray for their souls, but the words ha[ve] lost all meaning” (50). Likewise, when Alex goes to Yankee Stadium to find Mami’s body, he boards the bus home and tries to distract himself through prayer: “God save their souls, Alex prayed. God save ours. It was the only prayer he could think of, no matter how inadequate it might be.